This week we continue our blog series on the Chalcedonian Creed. Last week, Don summarized the history for us. Was Jesus God or man? This was the question that the Council was trying to address and their answer is preserved for us in the Creed. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. As our Shorter Catechism says in Question 21, Jesus is "God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever."
When we say that Jesus is fully man, we really do mean fully man. As the Creed puts it, Jesus has "reasonable [rational] soul and body." Jesus has a true human body and a soul, just like you.
One of the false teachings that was going on in the early church was that Jesus wasn't really human. He only appeared human. It was an illusion. Since Greek philosophy taught that the physical world was bad, surely God could not have had an actual physical body. A body would be too demeaning. The Chalcedonian Creed explicitly rejects this. Jesus had a real human body and soul. The God of the universe did in fact come down and He had a true body and soul.
In saying this, the Creed is merely echoing Scripture passages like Hebrews 2:14-15: "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus] likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." Jesus took on flesh and blood to rescue those who embody flesh and blood. Jesus became human to rescue humanity. To rescue you and me. This is no illusion. This is good news.
So why is it so important to us that Jesus had a real body and soul?
1) Jesus understands you - Don't we all want someone who understands us? In the midst of our highs and lows, we look for someone who understands our feelings and experiences. We find comfort in another who has walked in our shoes. The beauty of Jesus' humanity is that He does understand you because He has walked in your shoes. Jesus knows what it is like to be tired and hungry. He knows what it is like to be a child who grows into adulthood. He even knows what it is like to be tempted (Heb. 4:15). Because Jesus is fully human, we can go to Him in confidence with the full knowledge that He understands us more fully than anyone else can.
2) Our bodies are good - We might not go as far as the ancient Greeks and say the whole physical world is bad, but sometimes we are not so different. Many of us hate our bodies. We hate how tall or short we are. We hate how much we weigh. We hate the color of our hair or our lack of hair altogether. But when we understand the humanity of Jesus, we see that our bodies are not something to hate. They are beautiful and good. They are so beautiful and good that God the Son has one too. This is the ultimate celebrity endorsement! The Son who holds all things together (Col. 1:17), including our bodies, has a body Himself. The body and soul of Jesus remind us of the incredible dignity and worth that your body and soul have too.
3) God saves our whole person - We often talk about Jesus as the Savior of our souls, which is absolutely true. But He is more than that. He is the Savior of our whole person. Jesus redeems the whole of us, body and soul. As we wait for the glory of heaven, where sin will be no more, this is true of both our bodies and our souls. When Jesus rose from the dead, He rose in a glorified body. It was a real human body, but it was glorified the way we were meant to be. All the weakness and frailty was removed. Because this is true of Christ, it will be true of all of us who are in Christ. Jesus has a new, perfect body in store for you in glory (1 Cor. 15:42-49).
The fact that Jesus has a reasonable soul and body is important to our faith. It makes Jesus a better Savior than if He did not have them. And, because it makes Jesus a better Savior, it is yet another reason for us to honor and adore Him.
In Him,
Tom